Greenpeace firefighters attacked by armed men in Russia

A Greenpeace volunteer firefighting team was attacked overnight by armed men in southern Russia, says the activist group.

In a statement issued Friday, Greenpeace said that a staff member and a volunteer were given medical treatment for injuries sustained in the attack.

Forest fires are a regular occurrence across Russia’s taiga forests in Siberia and the Russian Far East, but are worsening due to logging, forest management practices, and the effects of climate change.

A Greenpeace volunteer firefighting team was attacked overnight by armed men in southern Russia, says the activist group.

In a statement issued Friday, Greenpeace said that a staff member and a volunteer were given medical treatment for injuries sustained in the attack.

“A Greenpeace Russia volunteer firefighting team were in medical care today after being attacked overnight in their camp in the south of the country by a group of eight armed men,” the group said in a statement. “The attack, on the night of 8-9 September, left a Greenpeace Russia staff member, Michael Kreindlin, with a broken nose and concussion, while a volunteer from the Trans-Baikal Territory, Andrey Polomoshnov, likely sustained a rib fracture.”

“The attackers sliced through tents, damaged vehicles, threw a stun grenade into one of the cars, and stole valuable equipment.”

Grigoriy Kuksin, Greenpeace Russia firefighting project’s coordinator, provided an account of the incident which occurred at a camp in the Krasnodar region.

“The attackers climbed over the fence. They held batons, knives and guns. I tried to stop them but they threatened me with gun, put me on the ground, fired a shot next to my head and poured some chemicals on me. They said that if we do not get out of here by dawn, then we won’t be seen anymore. They called us pro western and beat up our team members.”

Greenpeace says it is cooperating with authorities and will continue to work with other NGOs to battle fires blazing in forests across southern Russia.

Forest fires are a regular occurrence across Russia’s taiga forests in Siberia and the Russian Far East, but are worsening due to logging, forest management practices, and the effects of climate change, which dry out forests. In June Greenpeace estimated that some 3.5 million hectares of land had burned so far this year, an area far higher than the then official estimate of 669,000 hectares.